Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn's castle

Hever Castle is the small Kent castle where Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife and mother of Queen Elizabeth I, spent her childhood. Surrounded by a moat, with a drawbridge and an original portcullis, it stands in the countryside near Edenbridge, less than an hour from London. Next to the medieval castle stretch spectacular gardens created in the early 20th century by the American millionaire William Waldorf Astor, including a large Italian Garden with Roman statues and antiquities, a lake and two mazes.

History

The first fortified building dates from the late 13th century. In 1462 the estate was bought by Geoffrey Boleyn, a former Lord Mayor of London, and his family turned the castle into a Tudor residence. Anne Boleyn grew up here, and here, according to tradition, Henry VIII came to court her in the 1520s. After Anne's downfall and execution in 1536 and the death of her father Thomas, the castle passed to the crown: in 1540 the king gave it to Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife, as part of their divorce settlement.

For centuries Hever remained a country house, until in 1903 it was bought by William Waldorf Astor, one of the richest men in the world. Astor, who had been United States minister in Rome and had built up a large collection of antiquities, had the castle restored, built a "Tudor village" next to it for guests and staff, and had hundreds of workmen dig a lake of about 15 hectares.

What to see

The castle

The rooms are furnished with period furniture, tapestries and Tudor portraits. The most precious items are a pair of Books of Hours that belonged to Anne Boleyn, with notes in her own hand: one bears her signature, the other a short dedication. You can visit the bedroom traditionally said to have been Anne's, the Long Gallery, the dining hall and an exhibition on the Tudors. To learn more about the period, see the page on Henry VIII.

The Italian Garden

The Italian Garden is Astor's masterpiece: a long walk lined with walls covered in climbing plants, fountains, grottoes and pergolas, displaying Roman and Renaissance statues, sarcophagi and columns that the collector brought back from Italy. The walk ends with a grand loggia and a piazza overlooking the lake, with a fountain inspired by the Trevi Fountain.

The mazes and the lake

The yew maze, planted in 1904, is one of the best loved in the country; next to it is the water maze, where you have to reach the centre of an island while avoiding hidden jets, great fun with children in summer. Around the lake you can walk among woods, lawns, a rose garden with thousands of roses and the Tudor garden. In summer you can hire a rowing boat or a kayak.

Practical information

The castle and gardens are open for most of the year, with shorter hours in winter; check the official website for dates, times and prices. There is a restaurant, cafés and picnic areas. A gardens-only ticket costs less than the full ticket. For lovers of historical fiction, Anne Boleyn's era is masterfully told in Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall.

Getting there

• By train: from London Bridge to Hever, then about 1.5 km on foot along a country path; alternatively to Edenbridge Town and then a taxi.
• By car: from the M25 (junction 5 or 6), about an hour from London; free parking.
• By air: Gatwick Airport is about half an hour away by car.

Nearby

• Chartwell, Winston Churchill's country home, owned by the National Trust, about 15 minutes away.
• Penshurst Place, a large medieval house with gardens, and Knole, a huge palace with a deer park in Sevenoaks.
• The village of Chiddingstone, with Tudor houses and a castle, and London less than an hour away.

Tips

• How long: at least half a day; a full day with the mazes and the lake.
• When to go: May to July for the roses and the Italian Garden in bloom; in December the castle is decorated for Christmas.
• A tip: arrive at opening time to see the rooms before the groups, and save the gardens for the afternoon.

Hever Castle on the map

Nearby